


Fake-Max, Not-Max, and Real-Max Walk Into a Bar

by AnAceOfHearts



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fix-It, I /know/ its awful but I dont have any other ideas, I wrote the first part when I had a bad fever, Kinda, Post-Episode: s02e13 Mr. Jones, Post-Season/Series 02, Season 3 Speculation, also the echo fics are few so you gotta contribute what you can amirite, and the second part at 2 am, i apologize for the title, its not my fault I got a fever and the inspiration to write this, kinda? idrk what this ending is, listen theyre the ones who made this a possibility ok, no beta we die like lesbians, shit I forgot I have to title this ughhh, so uh it might not be my best but eh I wanted to post this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25782529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnAceOfHearts/pseuds/AnAceOfHearts
Summary: The voice on the phone sounded exactly like the one of the person behind her, except for one crucial difference - this Max’s voice was practically bleeding emotion, while the one behind her sounded robotic in comparison. It wasn’t that noticeable with just Not-Max around, but when she compared the two, the difference was striking.~~~~~When Liz is at the beach from the end of the season two finale, Max comes to try to talk to her.Only, a different Max calls from his car, claiming she's in danger.
Relationships: Max Evans/Liz Ortecho
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	Fake-Max, Not-Max, and Real-Max Walk Into a Bar

**Author's Note:**

> Wow this is my first contribution to the Roswell fandom! I finished the whole series in less than a week and I really wanted to write a fic, but I didn't know what to write. And then I suddenly got the idea for this when I had a fever, and this fic was born.
> 
> You know what, for once the title isn't Green Day lyrics, just my general chaos so yay me
> 
> Shockingly enough, I don't own Roswell, New Mexico or the characters, just my strange, fever-writing plotlines
> 
> Enjoy!

Liz turned her face towards the ocean, feeling the cool breeze on her face. She didn't know how the sea and the sky could both be blue, but such different—

“Liz!” A familiar - and painful - voice made her head shoot around, away from the mystifying sea.

With her hands shielding her eyes against the coastal sun, she looked at the person who had followed her from Roswell. “Max?” She asked in disbelief. He looked exactly as he had the last time she saw him, the day before she left; worn jeans, a ridiculous stereotypical cowboy belt buckle, and - of course - his signature tan cowboy hat. His hands were shoved in his pockets in typical Awkward Max™ fashion, but without the usual awkward, apologetic look in his eyes directed at the ground; instead, he was looking dead in her eyes.

“Hey, Liz.” He gave her a little half-wave, another Awkward Max™ move, but it was as if he was just going through the motions.  
Liz crossed her arms around her chest. “What are you doing here?” Her response was as cold as she could manage while looking at Max.

“You once made me promise that if you ever left again, I’d come after you.”

Liz felt her resolve weaken - not _crack_ , mind you, just weaken - and she ignored the memories that were surging towards the surface. “That was before you _burnt down my lab, Max._ ”

He finally broke eye contact and lowered his gaze towards the ground, shuffling his feet. But yet again, she was hit by the insincerity, hiding behind his words, no matter how hard she wanted to hear them.

“How’d you find me anyways?” As she asked the question, she scanned the area, looking for the best escape route to her car if she wanted to get out of there quickly. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him - Liz doubted she could ever be afraid of resident dork Max Evans - but he had a weird (for lack of a better word) energy around him, like he had all of Max’s memories and experiences, but could only view them from the outside, without any of the emotions that the Max she knew and loved had.

At least this person - alien - whatever - had the decency to attempt to appear sheepish. “Well, uh-" Not-Max scratched the back of his neck - “I asked your dad where you were stopping next and he told me.” Again, she didn't believe him for a second.

“Don't lie to me, Max. You come here, saying you want to make amends? Apologize? - I’m still not clear on that - and then you have the guts to lie to my face?”

To his credit, Not-Max seemed genuinely taken aback. “I—” He tried, but she didn't let him speak.

“Don't insult me even more by giving me another lie. I only told my dad where I was stopping five minutes ago, and there’s no way you could find this place and get here in that amount of time."

Before Not-Max could come to his defense, her phone rang.

“I'm going to take this,” she said coldly, “and I really don't care if you’re still here when I'm done.”

She turned and walked a few steps away from him and answered the call without checking the caller ID. “Hello?”

“ _Liz! Thank God!_ ” The voice on the other end of the line exclaimed, and she nearly dropped her phone.

The voice on the phone sounded exactly like the one of the person behind her, except for one crucial difference - this Max’s voice was practically bleeding emotion, while the one behind her sounded robotic in comparison. It wasn’t that noticeable with just Not-Max around, but when she compared the two, the difference was striking.

Real-Max continued, completely unaware of her shock. “ _Listen, I'm so sorry I wasn’t there when you left. But you could be in danger right now._ ” The wheels in her head were turning, churning, like a train going too fast. The alien behind her was definitely not her Max ( _Do you ever have the right to call him “your” Max anymore?_ You _left_ him, her brain supplied, which she ignored). _Her_ Max was in Michael’s car by the sounds of it, saying she was in danger.

So she forced a laugh. “Yes, Papí, you’re right!”

Nothing but the sound of the truck’s engine came over the line for a few seconds, until Real-Max got over his shock. “What.”  
Then he was silent again, waiting for her to say something else, so she took the opportunity to turn around and look at Not-Max.

“It’s just my dad, Max.” She put special emphasis on his name. “I’ll probably be a while, so you might want to get out of here.”  
Unfortunately, Not-Max just shrugged and leaned against the real Max’s Jeep.

“ _Liz? Are you saying that there’s someone there that looks like me?_ ” Real-Max’s voice had jumped from concerned to panicked.

“Uh-huh.”

“ _That is_ not _me. You know that alien we’ve been tracking, the one who lived on Mr. Jones’ farm and disappeared? That’s him. He got the drop on Michael, Isobel, and I and knocked us out._ ”

Liz forced out another laugh. “You’re kidding.”

“ _I wish I was,_ ” sighed Max. _“Listen, you need to get away from him as fast as you can, okay? We don't know who he is, what he wants, or how powerful he is, so just get in your car and get to a safe location. Text me your location and turn off your phone. Got it?_ ”

“Okay, Papí,” Liz huffed a big sigh for the benefit of Not-Max.

“ _And please stop calling me ‘Papí’. I mean, I get why, but it’s_ weird _, Liz._ ” Joked Real-Max.

She laughed, for real this time. “Got it.”

She swore she could hear Max smiling over the phone. “ _Be safe, alright?_ ”

“Alright.” She paused for a second. “I love you, too.” Then she hung up the phone before Max could say anything.

“I think you should leave,” Liz said, turning back towards Not-Max ( _Mr. Jones? Fake-Max?_ She wondered).

Fake-Max’s ( _Yeah, that’s it_ ) face turned furious. Not an aggressive fury, but a controlled fury that she just barely stopped herself from taking a step back. “Why? What did your father say?”

She kept her face icy. “Leave, Max.”

His expression hardened. “No.”

“Alright, fine. You want to do this the hard way? Let’s do this the hard way.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her mace, stepping forward and giving him a nice, long spray just to be sure. Then she shot her knee up, catching Fake-Max in the crotch, and stepped back so she could punch him across the jaw, causing him to wobble on his feet. She punched him again, and he fell over, his head connecting to the packed dirt floor and rendering him unconscious.

Satisfied with her work, Liz rushed over to her car and got in, sending a quick text to Max before powering down her phone. _EZ Express Inn. Ask for Rosa._

~~~~~~

Liz laid on the lumpy motel bed, counting the cracks in the ceiling, when someone pounded on the door.

“Liz?” The person banging on the door called. It was a man, panic and worry bleeding into his every word.

_Max._

The room spun as she sat up too quickly, but she didn't pause before racing to the door.

A quick peek through the peephole revealed Max, looking as worried and panicked as Liz had ever seen him. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets, hair a mess from running his hands through it, and his foot tapping anxiously against the stained motel carpet; there was no doubt that in her mind that this was the real Max Evans.

She yanked the door open, startling Max, and threw her arms around him before he had a chance to say anything. After he got over his shock, his arms wrapped around Liz, too, and she released the breath she had been holding since she first saw Fake-Max.

“It’s okay, Liz,” Max said, “it’s alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Maybe leave some kudos and/or comments for your local fic writer? :)
> 
> If you want to scream about Roswell or Echo with me, I'm on Tumblr at @the-poodles-of-pulitzer


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